Grammy-winner producer and HS87 founder Hit-Boy brought his long-incarcerated father into the musical fold soon after his release from prison. Hit-Boy’s pops, known as Big Hit, responded with a scene-stealing verse on the HS87 single “Grindin’ My Whole Life.” Now the O.G. gets to shine on his own in the video for his solo track “Gz Don’t Cry.” The emotive track brings the darker side of life in the streets to the forefront, where dead friends, double crosses, and regret occupy the same space and shiny cars and pockets filled with dirty money.

Big Hit is surprisingly comfortable behind the mic for someone who presumably didn’t have the opportunity to enter a recording booth while in the penitentiary for nearly two decades. He has the relaxed delivery of an old pro, with the personality and confidence of a man who is speaking about what he knows. Quality gangsta rap is as important to hip-hop as conscious rap, and Big Hit is an intriguing newcomer to a subgenre that has lost its footing in the mainstream in recent years.

Guys from that era… they just had natural presence and charisma. The delivery was always on point, because it HAD to be. Everything was live. IF you were wack on stage or even just in the cipher, NO ONE had respect for you. And you just know they had hella ciphers up north for him to hone his craft.

1. Using that sample always makes for a great beat. I first heard the sample on 7L and Main Flow’s album. 2. Cuz flow is ridiculously nice. cosign what Smarter said up top–I swear all the old heads have a nice ass flow.